Be careful before you download the latest, greatest hit. There are a few things you need to consider, like copyright issues! UNCW, with its high-quality technology and high bandwidth capabilities, opens many opportunities for research and data sharing. While this in and of itself is a good thing, the capabilities also bring the possibility of university resources being exploited and compromised through illegal downloading of music or other copyrighted material. The news is full of stories of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) targeting individuals and college students in a “crackdown” against copyrighted piracy.
Downloading music and data files that are protected by copyright law is an issue. Within this framework, P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing programs that have become popular (though legitimate in concept) may not cover copyrights of material that is accessed through them. That is the responsibility of the users.
At UNCW our focus is to promote the responsible use of computing resources across campus. This includes keeping passwords secure; using virus protection on your personal computer systems and keeping it updated; maintaining program updates; regularly backing up data files; and getting files from legitimate sources with copyrights secured. For music fans, legitimate services available include: Napster 2.0, iTunes, MusicMatch, MP3.com and Puretracks, to name a few.
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Also see: UNCW DMCA Compliance Policy and Notification Agent
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To take a crash course in copyright, see www.utsystem.edu/ogc/IntellectualProperty/cprtindx.htm#top
For copyright resources online, see http://www.library.yale.edu/~okerson/copyproj.html -
To determine when U.S. works pass into the public domain, see http://www.unc.edu/~unclng/public-d.htm
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For additional copyright resources, see http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
For information concerning UNCW’s copyright policies see the following policy links: Responsible Use of Electronic Resources (PDF) DMCA Policy
If you are found to be in violation of the downloading policies, your network access will be shut off. You will then need to contact the Dean of Students for further instructions.
If you need assistance making sure that you are not using peer-to-peer software illegally, the Technology Assistance Center (TAC) can help.
